Twins Daily College Baseball Notebook: Week 9

[Jamie Cameron]

This week, the college baseball season rolls into its second half. Read up on the last two weeks of college baseball, and an overview of the top of the 2022 draft class.

The Twins sit atop the AL Central, riding a four-game winning streak. Several Twins hitting and pitching prospects are off to exceptional starts in 2022. With May approaching, we are moving into the second half of the college baseball season ahead of the College World Series in June. Here’s the latest from Jeremy Nygaard, capturing news and notes as we shuffle towards the draft in July, including notes and updates from Keith Law, Maria Torres, and all the latest news, big boards, and mock drafts.

Weekly Recap

A sweep of Florida over the weekend kept number one Tennessee rolling, improving to 37-3 on the season and moving to a 17-1 record in the SEC, truly impressive given the caliber of the competition. The rest of the top five is made up of familiar names, with Oregon St climbing to number two, Miami, Stanford, and Virginia rounding out the rest. 

Florida State and Oregon were the big fallers of the week. Each team had a mediocre 2-2 week, falling to 24 and 25 respectively. The current crop of eight teams predicted by Baseball America to reach the College World Series in Omaha in June comprises Tennessee, Arkansas, Miami, Oregon St, Southern Miss, Stanford, Texas, and Virginia.

Here's where Baseball America ranked the top 25 in the country at the end of the weekend.

Moment of the Week

How’s this for an unconventional triple play turned by Virginia against Pitt last weekend?

Potential #8 Pick Performances

The group the Twins should be selecting from in July has remained remarkably consistent since the beginning of the college baseball season. It’s a great year to pick in the top ten. The upper tier of prospects is led by three prep prospects with superstar upside (Druw Jones, Temarr Johnson, and Elijah Green. Jackson Holliday (son of Matt) is arguably entering the top 10-12 conversation.

After the high-school uber-prospects, an incredibly strong class of college hitters runs out around pick 9-10, depending on who you like. Kevin Parada is having a season for the ages, and I think it’s very unlikely he’s still around for the Twins at eight. While the Falvey-led front office has had a type (high-floor college outfield bats), they haven’t had a selection this high since they took Royce Lewis number one overall. Trying to read the tea leaves, which is futile in April, I think it would be a huge win for Minnesota if Jacob Berry (Nygaard’s #6) or Jace Jung (Nygaard’s #8) is available for the Twins. Brooks Lee will not be, and before anyone asks, I hate the idea of drafting Dylan Lesko (we can argue about it in the comments). In the second half of the college season, I’ll continue to introduce prospects the Twins might consider at number eight and begin to highlight some intriguing prospects for their second pick.

Here are the latest number for draft-eligible college players the Twins may have interest in at number eight overall.

Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly, 60-156 (.385), 7 HR, 37 RBI, 34 BB, 13 K

Jace Jung, 2B, Texas Tech, 57-156 (.365), 11 HR, 44 RBI, 46 BB, 25 K

Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech, 68-177 (.384), 19 HR, 66 RBI, 21 BB, 19 K

Jacob Berry, CI, LSU, 57-154 (.370), 13 HR, 40 RBI, 19 BB, 15 K

Gavin Cross, OF, Virginia Tech, 53-148 (.358), 9 HR, 29 RBI, 22 BB, 19 K

Chase DeLauter, OF, James Madison, 38-87 (.437), 8 HR, 35 RBI, 28 BB, 21 K (currently injured)

Daniel Susac, C, Arizona, 68-183 (.372), 8 HR, 39 RBI, 15 BB, 33 K

Jordan Beck, OF, Tennessee, 50-158 (.316), 10 HR, 25 RBI, 17 BB, 35 K

Who are you most interested in as a potential number eight pick for the Minnesota Twins? Join the discussion in the comments.

 

 

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[Dman]

I have seen other boards dropping Berry because they feel he might be position less.  It would be nice to have a switch hitter who is good from both sides of the plate as it is really, really hard to find that but having another 40 graded runner that is not a catcher is less than ideal IMO.  if we want Berry odds are he will be there at number 8.

If Parada is gone and he most likely will be then I think Susac would be my next choice.  I know he is tall for a catcher but so was Mauer.  He looks to have a decent bat should be solid defensively and should have power.  It is an important position and one of need for the Twins as well.  I also could be convinced to go with Gavin Cross who has some speed and could be a Kepler replacement maybe in fairly short order.

Still I would prefer if the Twins could get a high school bat in the first round.  If Holiday or Collier were there I would take them.  Granted they would take longer to get to the Twins but they could start building another wave of younger players like Rodriguez, Miller, Cavaco, Rosario, Urbina which could replenish the MLB ranks in 4 or 5 years.

Would be nice if the Twins were a spot or two higher but as you stated they should still be in the range for an elite bat if they want one.

[MN_ExPat]

I hate the idea of drafting Dylan Lesko (we can argue about it in the comments)

Amen brother!  

Ok, all joking aside I don't think he would be a great choice at #8 for the Twins anyway. There is a very realistic chance my son's team will face Lesko's team in the second round of the GA State Playoffs next week (AAAAAA Bracket), although there is rumor that Lesko was shut down as a precaution with an unknown (minor?) injury last week. 

Giving his draft stock, he may be out for the remainder of season with the draft upcoming.  Also we may see him stick with his Vandy commit if he isn't drafted high enough.

[Ryan_K]

Lesko having TJ confirmed. Still says it's likely he'll be drafted. Not the worst pick since draft year we usually shut them down and Year 1 we do complex league, so he is not missing much inning building years. 

 

But I think Greene falls to us, so we can have a future Buxton Jo Dell type.